Baseball training guide



Aug. 26, 1969 E. N. oELAND. JR v 3,462,856

v BASEBALL TRAINING GUIDE Filed June 15. 19e".7 v 2 sheetssheet 1 AUS 26 1969 y E. N. oELAND, JR 3,462,856

BASEBALL TRAINING GUIDE Filed June 15, 196'? 2 sheets-sheen 2 United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 35--74 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A baseball training guide having a disk disposed between and rotatably secured to a pair of cover plates. Each cover plate is divided into seven radially extending sectors, each sector corresponding to a particular base-runner condition in a baseball game. Each face of the disk is similarly divided into seven radially extending sectors which display optimum strategy information for specific game conditions. Each of the cover-plate sectors has a window therethrough, the windows being arranged in the general form of a spiral. The cover plates are secured together along their lower edges to form a convenient grip while the disk is being rotated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an instruction device and training guide useful to teach optimum strategies to baseball players. The game of baseball is a major national sport, and many leagues have been developed in recent years to provide organized training to youngsters interested in learning the game. While the basic rules of baseball are relatively straightforward, the full potential of the game is not realized unless the players are taught a set of optimum strategies to be used in the many dilerent siuations which may develop in the course of a game.

In the past, there has been no single source of these strategies, and no way of presenting the strategies in a convenient, quickly selectible form. As a result, the training of many younger players has been deficient because the coaches (who are typically non-professional volunteers) lack elective training aids needed for effective teaching. The training guide of this invention overcomes these problems, and provides a display of all the optimum strategies for a specific player in a simple, handheld device.

In analyzing the rules and play of baseball, I have found that the proper initial position and strategy for a specific player is determined by three primary conditions. The lirst condition is the number of outs in the inning half being played. The strategies for the conditions of no outs and one out are similar, and can be combined as a rst set of instructions. However a second set of strategies must be adopted when there are two outs.

The second primary condition is the base-runner status which presents seven different strategic problems. That is, diierent strategies must be employed depending upon whether there is a single base runner or lirst, second or third base, a pair of base runners on first and second, first and third, or second and third, or the bases are loaded. An eighth situation presented when no player is on base need not be treated by the training guide because the appropriate initial position and strategy are well known to even beginning players.

The third primary condition is the identity of the ball receiver, or the position of the player most likely to field a ball hit by a batter. Six different strategies are required depending on whether the ball is received by the pitcher, catcher, shortstop, or one of the three basemen. A seventh strategy is applicable to any of the three outielders.

The two strategies needed for the number of outs, seven strategies needed for the base-runner status, and seven additional strategies needed for the ball-receiver condition result in a total of ninety-eight separate strategies which should be taught to a player occupying a specific playing position. The training problem is further compounded by the variation in strategies with the players position. That is, seven sets of ninety-eight different strategies are needed to train the pitcher, catcher, shortstop, Irst baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and the three outlielders who can be treated as a group.

The invention contemplates the use of seven different training guides for the seven sets of playing positions discussed above. The several guides are identical in structure, but carry different strategic information directed to the problems presented to a specific playing position. Each guide is a convenient, hand-held device which includes a rotatable disk for quickly and easily selecting the primary conditions presented by a particular playing problem. When the selection is made, the desired strategy appears in a window through cover plates or masks secured on opposite sides of the rotatable disk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly stated, the baseball training guide of this invention includes a first cover plate having a surface divided into seven radially extending base-status sectors. Each of the sectors includes a base-status message and a window through the plate, the Windows being disposed at different radial spacings from the center of the plate whereby each Window exclusively occupies a generally annular zone on the plate surface. A disk is rotatably secured at its center to the center of the plate, and has a face defining seven radially extending strategy sectors corresponding generally to the base-status sectors. Each of the strategy sectors includes a ball-receiver message and seven strategy messages which are radially spaced according to the radial spacing of the windows whereby a different strategy message is visible through each of the windows for each position of the disk which places the base-status sectors and strategy sectors in face-toface alignment.

Preferably, a second cover plate is secured to the -rst cover plate, and the disk is sandwiched between the two plates and rotatably secured thereto. The second plate is formed to be generally similar to the rst plate in that it has seven radially extending base-status sectors, each of which includes a base-status message and a window. In this form, strategy messages are provided on both sides of the disk to be visible through the windows. Preferably, the windows through the two plates are sequentially positioned in oppositely oriented, generally spiral paths, and the individual windows are formed as isosceles trapezoids. The two plates are preferably secured together along their lower edges, and have portions adjacent the lower edges which overhang the disk to provide a convenient grip when the disk is being rotated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation showing one side of a training guide according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation partly broken away and showing the reverse side of the training guide; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the training guide.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, a baseball training guide according to the invention includes a first cover plate 11, a second cover plate 12, and a rotatable disk 13 sandwiched between the two cover plates. A fastener 14 such as a rivet or bolt and nut passes through the cover plates and the disk to secure them together, the disk being free to rotate with respect to the two cover plates. As best seen in FIG. 3, the cover plates are secured together along a lower edge 15 of the training guide. The cover plates may be formed from a single sheet of material which is folded to define the lower edge, or may be cut from separate sheets of material such as cardboard or plastic, and riveted, taped, cemented or otherwise secured together.

The cover plates are congruent, and include lower portions having side edges 19 which are steeply inclined to lower edge 15. The lower portions define handgrip portions 20 which overhang and extend radially beyond the periphery of disk 13, permitting the guide to be held securely without impeding the rotation of the disk. Each plate has an upper portion 21 havin-g the general shape of part of a regular heptagon.

The face of each cover plate is divided by lines 24 into seven equal radially extending base-status sectors 25, each sector occupying about 51.43 degrees in azimuth of the face. A radially outermost edge 26 of each sector in upper portion 21 defines a chord of the circular disk, and exposes a set of circular segments 27 around the periphery of the disk. The circular segments on the disk which underlie the lower portion of each cover plate are visible through apertures 28 cut through the three base-status sectors in the lower portion of the plate and having the general form of a circular segment. In effect, radially outermost edge 26 in each sector defines the base of an aperture through which the periphery of the disk is visible, and all of these cutaway portions of the plate will hereafter be referred to as apertures 28.

Each of base-status sectors 2S includes a window 30 cut through the plate and in the general shape of an isosceles trapezoid. The windows are disposed at differing radial spacings from the center of the plate so that each window exclusively occupies a generally annular zone on the surface of the plate. As shown in the drawings, the windows are preferably arranged to have sequentially increasing radial separation from the center of the plate to form a generally spiral pattern.

The spiral patterns are congruent (that is, each window in one plate overlies and is aligned with a corresponding window in the other plate), and are therefore outwardly clockwise when one side of the guide is viewed, and outwardly counterclockwise when the other side of the guide is viewed. The trapezoidal shape of the windows maximizes the exposure of the underlying disk, and the spiral orientation is preferred as it presents strategy information in a desired logical order. A window 30a at the top of each of the plates merges with an aperture 28a associated with that segment to form a relatively deep inward cut in that segment.

Each of the base-status sectors has three pieces of information printed thereon. First, the number and position of the base runners is indicated by first markings 32 such as runner on first, runner on second, etc. One of each of the seven possible combinations of base runners appears in each of the segments. Second, an out-status message is defined by second markings 33 which read no out or one out on first cover plate 11 and two out on second cover plate 12. Third, a pictorial diagram of a baseball diamond is portrayed by third markings 34 in each sector, and these diagrams illustrate base runners according to the status indicated by `first: markings 32. These markings simplify the use of the training guide by providing an instant visual indication of the base-status condition associated with a particular sector. The center of each cover plate includes a fourth marking 35 designating the specific player for whose use the guide is intended.

As best seen in FIG. 2, circular disk 13 is subdivided by lines 38 into seven equal radially extending strategy sectors 39 corresponding to the shape of base-status sectors 25. The radially outermost portion of each strategy Sector includes fifth markings 40 designating a different ball receiver in each of the sectors. For example, fifth markings 40 define such designations as catcher fields ball, outfielder fields ball, etc. Fifth markings 40 also designate the number of the indicated playing position to speed the use of the training guide and train young players in the player numbering system.

Each strategy sector 39 on the disk includes sixth markings 42 defining seven individual strategy messages which are radially spaced according to the radial spacing of windows 30 through the plates. Forty-nine individual strategy messages appear on each side of the disk, for a total of ninety-eight messages answering the ninetyeight strategic problems which may be presented to any specific player. The strategy messages cover the specific moves to be taken by the player in a particular situation, and may also include general advice on good playing technique. For example, a typical strategy message directed to the shortstop reads as follows in the situation where the third baseman fields the ball, and there is a runner on third with no outs or one out:

May bunt. Play is to 1B. Cover 2B on a bunt. Cover 3B when the third baseman fields a slow roller or popliy. Always try to field infield tlys behind 3B. Always call for flys you intend to field. When cut-off man, try to catch the ball on your throwing side.

The other strategy messages on the disk of course present the optimum strategies for the other possible combinations of ball receivers and base runners status.

The user of the training guide selects the desired strategy message by rotating the disk until the appropriate ball-receiver marking (such as third baseman fields `ball) is aligned in aperture 28 of the sector bearing the relevant game-status message (such as runner on third. No out or one out.). The optimum strategy is then read through the window in that sector. The training guide is thus quick and easy to use, and is an effective aid to players and particularly to non-professional coaches who want to teach the more sophisticated aspects of the game to younger players.

Identical ball-receiver and base-runner markings appear on opposite faces of the training device in order to simplify location of the desired information. For example, the two Shortstop Fields Ball messages are directly opposite each other in back-to-back relationship on the disk, and the two Runner on Second messages are directly opposite each other in back-to-back relationship on the cover plates as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. When the disk has been rotated to present a strategy message in a specific strategy sector for particular ball-receiver and base-runner conditions with no outs or one out, the corresponding strategy for two outs is found by flipping the device over to view the reverse side of that` specific strategy sector.

The specific arrangement of ball-receiver and base-runner messages shown in the drawings has been found satisfactory in that the more complex and lengthy strategies are positioned inthe radially outermost part of the strategy sectors. These outermost parts have larger surface area than the narrower inner parts, and can therefore accept more printed text. The surface-area difference can be compensated for to any desired extent by increasing the radial dimensionl of the inner windows and strategy-message spaces, and this arrangement is shown in the drawings.

The training guide has been described and illustrated in terms of a presently preferred form, but variations and modifications of this preferred form are of course possible. All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims which dene the invention.

I claim:

1. A baseball training guide comprising:

rst and second cover plates secured together to be nonrotatable with respect to each other, each cover plate having an outer surface with a center, the outer surfaces being divided into a plurality of radially extending base-status sectors, each sector including a base-status message and a window through the plate, the windows being disposed at differing radial spacings from the center whereby each window exclusively occupies a generally annular zone on the surface of the associated plate, the windows in the first and second plates, being in congruent alignment, the basestatus messages on the rst plate being based on a different number of outs than associated with the corresponding messages on the second plate; and

a disk disposed between and rotatably secured to the centers of the cover plates, the disk having opposed faces each defining a plurality of radially extending strategy sectors corresponding generally to the basestatus sectors, each strategy sector including a ballreceiver message and a plurality of strategy messages radially spaced according to the radial spacing of the windows whereby a different strategy `message is 'visible through each window for each disk position which aligns the base-status sectors and strategy sectors;

the ball-receiver messages being arranged around the periphery of the disk in radially outer portions of the strategy sectors, and the cover plates being formed to expose and separate all ball-receiver messages when the base-status and strategy sectors are aligned;

the cover plates defining handgrip portions which extend radially beyond the disk whereby the training guide can be grasped without impeding rotation of the disk.

2. The training `guide dened in claim 1 in which the surface of each cover plate is divided into seven substantially equal 'base-status sectors, each face of the disk is divided into seven strategy sectors, and each strategy sector includes seven strategy messages.

3. The training guide deued in claim 2 in which the windows are shaped substantially as isosceles trapezoids, and in which one of the windows in each cover plate is positioned adjacent the center of the respective plate, the other windows being sequentially arranged with increasing radial separation from the center to form a generally spiral pattern of windows on each plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 331,264 11/1885 Tucker 235-88 938,222 10/ 1909 Dinkelspiel 23S-88 2,797,499 7/ 1957 Lagerdahl 35-74 X 3,277,591 10/ 1966 IRutkofsky 35-74 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,091 1914 Great Britain.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner H. S. SKOGQUIST, Assistant Examiner 

